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Topic: Lauren's Theraspheres

Hi Everyone,

After waiting for almost a week and a half after Lauren's mapping for Theraspheres, I finally broke down and e-mailed her radiologist that will be doing the procedure. I had called the number I was given by the nurse practitioner three times last week. I finally reached the nurse practitoner on Friday last week. She said she would speak to the doctor on Monday and call us. Well, today is Wed. and still no call. We hadn't heard anything about Lauren being a good candidate for the procedure. I felt that if we hadn't heard anything, that everything was still a go. I was right. the wonderful doctor e-mailed me about 20 minutes after I e-mailed her and she apologized for nobody getting back to us. She is so busy doing procedures like this that I couldn't be upset with her for not calling. It was up to her nurse and she kind of dropped the ball. I'm sure she is really busy as well. She said the mapping went great and Lauren's lung shunt was only 7.1%. From what I understand, the amount that can go to the lungs has to be under 20%, so 7.1 is great!! They ordered her Theraspheres yesterday and she will be having the procedure next Wed. May 16. My birthday is the 15th, so what a great birthday present that would be if the procedure kills the tumors!! I will keep you all posted. Please say a few extra prayers for Lauren. Thanks. Love you all.

-Pam

My beautiful daughter, Lauren Patrice, will live on in my heart forever.

My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

Yay! I've been waiting to hear! I'm so happy for Lauren. And you, too Pam. You know she is in my prayers every night but I'll be praying the theraspheres work this week.... please, please????Huggs!

KrisJ"Don't just have minutes in the day; have moments in time."Any opinions I give are based on personal experiences, and are not based on medical knowledge. I strongly suggest receiving medical care and opinions.

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

Pam, congratulations. That is fantastic news. My husband went for the mapping last week and we were told his shunt is 21 so he is not a candidate. He also got really sick from the mapping. He had severe pain, loss of appetite and now platelets are down. We were really hoping to be able to do the procedure IR has now recommended bland embolization. We understand it can be very painful. The process is to cut off all blood supply to the tumor. My question is if this happens how does the body rid itself of the toxins?

Where are you having your procedure done?I will keep you and Lauren in my prayers. Keep the Faith. EDH

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

Thanks to all of you for your well wishes. It is nice to have the support of such caring people.

EDH- I am really sorry your husband is not a candidate. He just missed the cut off mark. Boo. He might have been really sick after the actual procedure If he was that sick after the mapping. Bland embolization might be your answer, but if they say it is painful might make me nervous. Usually they tell you that things won't hurt and they end up really hurting. Lauren said her liver biopsy was the most painful procedure ever, and they told her it wouldn't hurt at all. So now she always expects that everything will hurt and prepares herself for it. If your husband does go ahead with the bland, I sure would ask for some really good painkillers. I don't think anyone should suffer with pain and there are so many different drugs out there that doctors can give. As to what you say about the procedure and what happens to the toxins with regard to the bland, I would guess that if the blood supply is cut off, the tumor would just die. Lauren's surgeon said that if her tumors die, he could go in and scoop them out. We envision a melon baller. Haha. Lauren did really well after her mapping. She was really sore at the puncture sight and had a hard time lifting her leg, but other than that pretty good. She also had chemo the day before the mapping and still was hooked up to her pump with 5-FU during the procedure. Talk about a trooper. She amazes me. She is treated at University of Michigan Hospital. What a top notch facility. We couldn't be happier with her treatment dealing with her cancer. I wish you and your husband all the best and I hope you find the right treatment for him.

-Pam

My beautiful daughter, Lauren Patrice, will live on in my heart forever.

My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

Hi Pam,

Yay! This is great news for you and Lauren, I'm well chuffed for the both of you! My fingers are crossed for the 16th and of course I am sending Lauren tons and tons of positive thoughts her way. A great birthday present for you!

Hugs,

Gavin

Any advice or comments I give are based on personal experiences and knowledge and are my opinions only, they are not to be substituted for professional medical advice. Please seek professional advice from a qualified doctor or medical professional.

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

Hi Randi,

Ha! Well chuffed means that I am very happy, hence why I was well chuffed for Lauren and Pam! Sorry, my language and phrases, sometimes I forget that not everyone will understand what I am saying!!! Eg - I could have said "Gaun yersel Doll.....which basically means "you go girl, great stuff!" And if I was to speak in broad Dundonian, especially if I was talking quickly then even my friends from south of the border here in the UK would probably not understand me!!! Ha Ha!!!

Hugs,

Gavin

Any advice or comments I give are based on personal experiences and knowledge and are my opinions only, they are not to be substituted for professional medical advice. Please seek professional advice from a qualified doctor or medical professional.

Would sooo love to see their reactions to some of these. Especially if you all go out for a meal and it's not nice, and you describe the food as minging, or mingin as we would say here!!!

Good luck!!!

Gavin

Any advice or comments I give are based on personal experiences and knowledge and are my opinions only, they are not to be substituted for professional medical advice. Please seek professional advice from a qualified doctor or medical professional.

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

We will be leaving this afternoon for Michigan. Theraspheres are tomorrow at noon!! Pray for dramatic results and few side effects. Love to all of you.

-Pam

My beautiful daughter, Lauren Patrice, will live on in my heart forever.

My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

I've been praying for Lauren's first treatment to go great for over a week now! And I ain't stopping till I hear how great it went. Finger, toes, and eyes crossed, too.Lots of love going out to you,Kris

KrisJ"Don't just have minutes in the day; have moments in time."Any opinions I give are based on personal experiences, and are not based on medical knowledge. I strongly suggest receiving medical care and opinions.

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

Hi Pam,

Loads of positive thoughts for Lauren coming from over here! I hope that it all goes well and everything is crossed here.

Hugs,

Gavin

Any advice or comments I give are based on personal experiences and knowledge and are my opinions only, they are not to be substituted for professional medical advice. Please seek professional advice from a qualified doctor or medical professional.

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

I have already posted on Facebook throughout the day to let people know how Lauren's procedure went. The whole day went awesome. I am wondering if the nurses got talked to or what. Remember our last ordeal with the mapping. They were all so nice today, practically bending over backwards to please us. They wanted to give Lauren Zofran in her IV for nausea and we told them she had taken that when she first started chemo and it gave her really bad headaches. We told them that she gets Aloxi in her IV now before chemo and it works great. Her poor nurse went on a wild goose chase through the whole hospital looking for this stuff. They only use it in the infusion area where they give chemo, which is where she found some. It is really expensive. Like $1200 for a vial. Yikes. I thought that was so great that they got Lauren what she wanted. I also spoke with her nurse about the exposure last time and she handled that too. They made sure Lauren was covered the whole time and only exposed the area used for doing the embolization. I cannot tell you how much more of a positive experience this time was. Her Radiology Oncologist came out to the waiting room after the procedure and told us everything went super. The Interventional Radiologist kept Lauren laughing in the OR. She was great. Dr. Sonnenday popped in to see her also and even came to see us in the waiting room. I cannot say enough good things about this man. What busy surgeon just stops by to say hi and let us know what he plans on doing. Lauren's does. He is a special man. I told him it means a lot to all of us for him to take the time and post on here. We are so lucky to have him taking care of Lauren. Lauren is doing ok tonight. She is really tired and the puncture sight is sore. We will be heading home tomorrow and hopefully those tumors are getting a good zap. Thanks for all your prayers. They really helped us today.

Love, -Pam

My beautiful daughter, Lauren Patrice, will live on in my heart forever.

My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

Pam:I also posted on FB how happy I am to hear all this. I am so glad Lauren's procedure went so well. Here's to some "zapping"!!

And Lainy:I'm doing okay. I have a CT scan next week. Just waiting till then to find out what's next on the agenda. Dizziness, etc. is better so I went for a brief ride on the "new to me" scooter Sunday. Hope to get out tomorrow too.Hugs to all

KrisJ"Don't just have minutes in the day; have moments in time."Any opinions I give are based on personal experiences, and are not based on medical knowledge. I strongly suggest receiving medical care and opinions.

Re: Lauren's Theraspheres

That is great to hear that all went well for Lauren and that everything went so much better than the last time. Have a safe trip home and hoping that these tumours took a serious zapping!!

Hugs,

Gavin

Any advice or comments I give are based on personal experiences and knowledge and are my opinions only, they are not to be substituted for professional medical advice. Please seek professional advice from a qualified doctor or medical professional.

The information expressed is not medical advice. The discussion boards are not intended to replace the services of a trained health professional or to be a substitute for the medical advice of physicians or other healthcare providers. Read the full disclaimer.